Tortellini with Steak and Blue Cheese
Do you like a classic wedge salad? Then you’ll love this Tortellini with Steak and Blue Cheese!
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One of my favorite things about going to a fancy steakhouse is the wedge salad. There. I said it. The classic wedge salad before the meal ranks right up there with the actual steak. It’s tough to beat a quarter of a head of lettuce topped with all sorts of deliciousness. Bacon, crumbled blue cheese, tomatoes, red onions, green onions…and of course blue cheese dressing on top! Just typing that list out made me hungry. But that’s why we’re friends, right? We enjoy delicious food!
There was a time when I didn’t like blue cheese. My Dad loves to go to a good steakhouse, and we had our favorite places in Baton Rouge, Atlanta and now Saratoga Springs. I’d often start dinner with a wedge salad, but I’d request no blue cheese. And I’d usually request 1000 Island dressing if they had it. Laura used to cringe at the thought as she pointed out that the price of a wedge salad is often due to the blue cheese…and I was just leaving it off. (Soon after, she started asking me to have the blue cheese on the side. She’d then steal it once it arrived.)
Then my taste buds changed. (Taste buds supposedly change every 7 years.) And now I love blue cheese. And I no longer request the blue cheese to be left off of my wedge salads. So with that classic wedge salad in mind, I set out to create a fun dinner for us. Except I used tortellini pasta instead of lettuce, and then I topped the salad with a couple slices of grilled ribeye steak. Because if there’s one way to improve upon a classic wedge salad, it’s adding grilled steak to the mix! The result was this Tortellini with Steak and Blue Cheese, and this recipe is a keeper!
For this ribeye steak, I chose to go with a classic marinade. Soy sauce, olive oil, lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce. Add in some herbs for good measure, and you’ve got one good marinade. I used to always marinate steaks, but now I go back and forth between marinating and using a dry rub. (This porcini mushroom rub is definitely one of our favorites!) Both methods are delicious. I just like to mix it up occasionally. And this Tortellini with Steak and Blue Cheese turned out to be a quite tasty meal!
Are you a fan of blue cheese and wedge salads? If so, give this Tortellini with Steak and Blue Cheese a shot! (And if you’re not a fan of blue cheese, then can I have yours?)
Tortellini with Steak and Blue Cheese
Ingredients
For the Pasta
- 1 12-oz. package spinach tortellini
- 2 Roma tomatoes diced
- ⅓ cup red onion thinly sliced
- ½ cup blue cheese crumbled
- 8 slices thick-cut bacon cooked and crumbled
- ½ cup blue cheese dressing
- {garnish} green onions chopped
For the Steak
- ⅓ cup soy sauce
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- ¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
- 2 Tbsp dried basil
- 1 Tbsp dried parsley
- 1 Tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 2 6-8 oz. ribeye steaks
Instructions
For the Pasta
- Cook the tortellini according to the package instructions; rinse, drain and set aside. (Tip: Toss the pasta in 1-2 Tbsp of milk to prevent it from sticking together once rinsed.)
For the Steak
- Using a small bowl, add all marinade ingredients (soy sauce, olive oil, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, dried basil, dried parsley, garlic powder and pepper).
- Place steaks in a small baking dish. Pour marinade on top, turning to coat both sides. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or up to 8 hours.
- Preheat grill to high heat.
- Grill steaks for 3-4 minutes per side (medium-rare to medium). Turn gas off (or close grill air vents) and continue grilling until steaks reach desired doneness (~4-8 more minutes depending on thickness of steaks).
- Transfer steaks to cutting board and let stand for 5 minutes.
- Slice steaks against the grain.
- Divide pasta evenly onto plates and top with tomatoes, red onion, blue cheese, bacon and sliced ribeye steaks. Garnish with green onions and blue cheese dressing before serving.
Taste buds change every 7 years? As long as they change for the better! I don’t want to stop loving one of my favorites all of the sudden! I love a good salad, especially when it’s a meal all in itself and topped with blue cheese! 🙂
Isn’t that a strange (but fun) fact about taste buds? It’s true! As long as my taste buds don’t ever run away from chocolate, then I’m ok with it. 🙂 Seriously, though, this tortellini dish is amazing! The blue cheese + steak is a classic combo, and I love the heartiness of using tortellini as the base here.
Pasta, bacon, and blue cheese – you don’t need to adk me twice, David. I’m on my way. Well, by the time I arrive, there won’t be anything left so please send me a priority express package ASAP:) Anyways, you know that our stories about blue cheese are similar. I used to hate even the word, but now I’m a huge fan. It’s a different story with Andrey, though. Two years ago I started to gradually incorporate some blue cheese in our food (Normally I wouldn’t add blue cheese in his part), and he kind of liked it. Well, it wasn’t true love yet, but he didn’t reject the dishes and he said he could handle the blue cheese. Nice step, eh? However, last year I didn’t make any dish with blue cheese for him, and you know what’s happened recently? He rejected my beautiful idea of a meal with blue cheese and said he didn’t recall having had blue cheese at all, and if that was a case, he must be very hungry (or I didn’t give him a choice). The morale of the story: any educational process should be smooth and constant haha. Anyways, this dish looms and sounds amazing. Waiting for my parcel now 🙂
Haha…yes, you are indeed correct, Ben! This one disappeared long before you ever had a chance to get to it. But if you want to make us some ice cream (anything but lavender!), then I’ll gladly consider a trade. 🙂 You know, you make a really good point about the gradual change. I first started liking blue cheese in the form of a blue cheese dip at a restaurant where we’d go when we first moved to NY. It was a mild dip, but it had chunks of blue cheese in it. Over time, I’ve gotten to where I love a good chunk of blue cheese straight up, but there was definitely a time when I couldn’t have done that! Slow and steady wins the blue cheese race, right? 🙂
I used to be a blue cheese hater too. I don’t remember at what point that changed but now I can’t get enough of the stuff! I’ll credit my father with that, since he loves it and my mom can barely tolerate the smell. . .Basically, this is my dream recipe. Pasta, blue cheese, and tomatoes? Try to tear the plate away from me!
Hah…your parents sound a bit like us a couple of years ago. I used to be revolted at the thought of blue cheese, but Laura always wanted to pick some up at the store. Now we both love it, although I admit that it’s a bit strange to see the big mold veins in there. Delicious, yes, but strange. And I love crumbling the blue cheese over a heartier pasta like tortellini. Mmmm….pasta and cheese. 🙂
Hi David! I certainly do love a wedge salad with lots of chunky blue cheese! And bacon of course! As far as steaks go it’s ribeye for me (rare). Combine them and in my opinion you’ve got a perfect dinner feast! A glass or two or wine wouldn’t hurt either!
Cheers to the wedge salad, Dorothy! I can’t believe I used to order that wedge salad but leave the blue cheese off. Now that wedge salad is one of my favorite things to order whenever we go up to that steakhouse. And I’m with ya on the ribeye! You can’t go wrong there! And a nice glass of red wine would be the way to top this meal off for sure. In fact, I might just have to remake this one soon as it was really, really tasty! 🙂 Thanks for commenting, Dorothy!
Ok, this sounds so good – I love blue cheese (especially on a wedge! – i don’t know why the wedge disappeared for a while, but am glad it’s back!). And what a great idea to put it all atop the tortellini. Yummm.
You know, you’re totally right, Laura! Wedge salads aren’t nearly as common as they used to be. I still order one whenever I go out to a steakhouse, but I don’t see them other places very much. We need more wedge salads in our life! Wedge salads topped with blue cheese! 🙂 Although I must admit that I love serving this one over a heartier pasta like tortellini. Mmmm…cheesy pasta! Thanks for commenting, my friend!
Ermahgerd, I want to mouth plow that delicious looking plate of food. I didn’t like blue cheese for the longest time, but once I like it, I was hooked! I love your idea of adding tortellini to this dish. Such a hardy fall/winter recipe, I’m dying to try it!
Hahaha! Thank you so much for the hilarious comment, Christina. For the record, I’m pretty sure I mouth-plowed this bad boy about 32 seconds after taking these pictures. 🙂 The flavors in this one are amazing, and I love using a thicker pasta like tortellini. It makes this recipe perfect for a chilly night! I really appreciate you stopping by to comment, too!
Oh my goodness – where to start??? Love rib eye steaks and funky blue cheese!!! This is a dream dinner right here, David. This and a glass of red and I’m a happy girl, that’s for sure! If taste buds do change every 7 years, I hope I never tire of funky cheese, lol 😉
We were both channeling the cheesy, steak goodness yesterday, Dawn! I love your idea of turning it into a sandwich. I’m pretty sure I could eat a sandwich every single night of the week…especially when delicious flavors like blue cheese and steak are involved! I’m with you on hoping my taste buds don’t back away from stinky cheese. (Well, that and chocolate, too…haha!) Now that I’ve found a love for stinky cheese, I just can’t stop! 🙂
Your mention of blue cheese dressing reminds me that I first experienced it in the U.S. David, In 1984 to be exact (LOL). That was my first visit with my parents (Florida) and that’s where I first tasted and fell in love with blue cheese dressing! I love your classic marinade for your steak here too, I’m going to have to give that a try. In fact I love your whole recipe. What a delicious combination. I need this in my life!
Wow, that is one heck of a good memory right there, Neil! You must’ve really loved that blue cheese dressing if you can remember when and where you first tasted it…33 years later! 🙂 So I really enjoyed serving these flavors over a heartier pasta like tortellini. It made for one heck of a delicious dinner for a chilly night! Thanks for commenting, my friend!
Duuuuude – just reading your list of wedge salad add ons made me hungry – and I just had waffles for breakfast!!! GAH! I gotta agree with ya – wedge salads are the bombdiggity – especially when bacon + blue cheese are involved! Like you, once upon a time, many, many moons ago, blue cheese made my nostrils flare and I couldn’t get over the smell to taste it – but guess that 7 year time frame you mentioned was up and I began enjoying that pungent cheese – and found it to be not as nostril-flaring as it used to be!
By the way, this salad sounds delish! Lil Shashi just peeked over my shoulder and insists we have this minus the steak and bacon – I keep waiting for her to come on over to the bacon side again…until then MORE more more bacon for me!!!
Hoping this week is off to a wonderful start for ya!
I hear ya, Shashi! A good wedge salad is SO hard to beat. 🙂 I used to just customize the classic wedge salad to my own flavors, but now that blue cheese is an option, I say “bring it on!” And serving this one over a hearty pasta like tortellini made for a great dinner on these chilly nights! Tell Lil Shashi that I’d be glad to make this for her…that means I get double the bacon and double the steak in mine! Haha!
I still don’t like blue cheese, maybe that needs to change! :/
Give it 7 years, Manali…your taste buds might change! 🙂
So many things we love on one gorgeous plate! We’re big wedge salad fans and I love that this is reminiscent of it, but is a hearty meal.
Yes to the wedge salad! And even more yes to putting those same flavors over a hearty pasta like tortellini. This one made for one heck of a delicious dinner on these chilly nights. Thanks so much, Marissa! 🙂
That is a plate loaded with all the good stuff!!! I haven’t tried blue cheese yet..guess I need to try my hands at this stuff soon!
So blue cheese is a pretty polarizing flavor. Folks either seem to love it or hate it. I personally hated it for years, but the flavor gradually grew on me, and now I love it! In fact, we just bought a couple of wedges on sale at the grocery store. I have no idea what I’ll do with ’em, but it’s always good to keep blue cheese in the fridge! Thanks so much, Deepika! 🙂
I love blue cheese dressing, always have been a fan. Love this recipe sounds so flavorful – super combination.
So blue cheese (and blue cheese dressing) is new to me within the past maybe 5 years or so, but I am totally making up for lost time now, Dawn! I love it! 🙂 Thank you so much for the kind comment!
Wedge salad is one of my favorite things about time travel. Although, for quite some time now, they’ve been popping up at 21st-century restaurants here and there. I love them. I love how youre recipe brings the whole steakhouse experience together on a single plate. I go to a steakhouse for my birthday, which happens only once a year – although every time someone says to me, “What? Where you born yesterday?” I feel like I should be able to go to a steakhouse. Nothing, though, prevents me from having steak at home as often as it suits me, so I’ll look forward to trying this out!
Hah! I gotta say that I love time travel, too, Jeff. I just wish my time travel pod didn’t break down so often. 🙂 I’m a huge fan of those wedge salads at steakhouses, and that’s what inspired this delicious pasta recipe. I do love the crunch of lettuce, but subbing in the hearty pasta made this one perfect for dinner on a chilly night. I hope you’re staying warm over there in Chi-town! Cheers, buddy!